FORT WORTH, TX – Koko Nelson’s connections at Notre Dame helped her get in the door at Vanderbilt.
A former player for the Fighting Irish women’s basketball team from 2013-18, Nelson first came to the Commodores in 2021 as the recruiting operations coordinator for the football team. Clark Lea, who was the Fighting Irish defensive coordinator previously, knew then-Notre Dame women’s basketball coach Muffet McGraw and went to McGraw for a reference on Nelson.
But Nelson always wanted to work in women’s basketball. She thought she would work in football for a few years before getting back into the game she’d played, but it turned out to be only one season. Just a few months after Lea’s hiring, Vanderbilt hired Shea Ralph as its women’s basketball coach. She brought a few staffers with her from UConn, including Kyla Irwin and Kevin DeMille. Nelson knew Ralph, DeMille and Irwin from facing them during the longtime rivalry between Notre Dame and UConn. Ralph asked Lea if she could hire Nelson and Lea gave his blessing.
Nelson has been the Commodores’ on-campus recruiting coordinator ever since.
Now, Nelson is in Fort Worth for her first Sweet 16 with Vanderbilt. The No. 2 seed Commodores (29-4) are set to take on the No. 6 seed Fighting Irish (24-10) on March 27 (1:30 p.m. CT, ESPN) in their first trip to the second weekend since 2009.
“I had mixed emotions, just because my people are all still there, and that’s the place that I grew up,” Nelson told The Tennessean. “I’m excited to be able to have my two worlds collide, and we get a chance to make history again by hopefully going to the Elite 8. It sucks that it’s against the people that I love, but it’s basketball.”
McGraw, who retired from Notre Dame in 2020, preached women’s empowerment. She became notable for having all-female coaching staffs, and that inspired several of her former players − including Nelson − to pursue careers on basketball staffs.
If Vanderbilt is to make the Final Four, it will need to get through two programs where the roots are deep. First, Notre Dame, where Nelson started her career and where former Commodores player Iyana Moore plays. Then, No. 1 seed UConn could await in the Elite 8, where coach Shea Ralph played her career as a player and later became an assistant. When Moore was working through the transfer process, she turned to Nelson for advice on what Notre Dame was like.
“If you’re going to go somewhere, these people are going to care about you and they’re going to love on you and it’s the best place possible for you to go,” Nelson said she told Moore.
A lot is on the line for both programs in the matchup. Notre Dame, a two-time national champion, has not even made the Elite 8 since 2019, when McGraw was still the coach. This is seen as a prove-it matchup for the Fighting Irish and coach Niele Ivey, who has made five Sweet 16s and won two ACC regular-season titles and one conference tournament title, but hasn’t gotten past that.
However, Vanderbilt is playing in its first Sweet 16 since 2009 and hasn’t made the Elite 8 since 2002. Ralph has made incremental progress throughout her time with the Commodores, first leading them to the Women’s NCAA Tournament for the first time in a decade in 2024, then avoiding the First Four in 2025 and now making the Sweet 16.
As emotional as the moment was when Vanderbilt qualified for the Sweet 16, the Commodores aren’t here for sentimentality anymore. They’re here to win, and they believe they have what it takes to vanquish two blue-blood opponents and reach the Final Four.
“We love Iyana, so it’s a great opportunity to get to see her,” Aiyana Mitchell said. “And I know Koko has a lot of connections there too. So it’s always nice to see familiar faces.”
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at [email protected] or on X @aria_gerson.
Subscribe to Updates
Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.
